Highly ramified structure in which essentially each
constitutional unit is
connected to each other
constitutional unit and to the macroscopic phase boundary
by many paths through the structure, the number of such paths increasing with the
average
number of intervening constitutional units; the paths must on average be co-extensive
with the structure.
Notes:
- Usually, and in all systems that exhibit rubber elasticity, the number of distinct
paths is very high, but, in most cases, some constitutional units exist that are connected
by a single path only.
- Modified from previous definition. The definition proposed here is a
generalization to cover both polymeric networks and networks comprised of particles.
Source:
PAC, 2007, 79, 1801
(Definitions of terms relating to the structure and processing of sols, gels, networks,
and inorganic-organic hybrid materials (IUPAC Recommendations 2007))
on page 1813